The Epiphany
by SirAmbala
Summary: Shortly after his third gym battle, Ash comes to an epiphany of sorts while talking with Iris and Dent.


AN: Don't own Pokémon. This just came to me after watching some of Best Wishes, hoping it will help with writers block too.

ooOOoo

After winning his third gym badge against Arty, Ash and the new gang were at the Pokémon center relaxing before setting out again.

"Well Ash that was a flavorful battle," said Dent.

"Thanks, I'm really happy with how well everyone battled."

"It was a good battle, but you had us nervous for a little bit there," stated Iris.

"Yes your choice of Pokémon was not the one with the most advantages," said Dent.

"I know, and I knew that going into the battle. I've never been afraid of a little disadvantage. I mean I took on Brock with Pikachu, even after Misty told me not to…"

"Ash?" asked Dent.

"Oh sorry, I fought against Brock in my first ever gym battle way back in Pewter city. I took on his Onix with Pikachu. We were defeated badly the first time, but with the help of Flint we charged Pikachu up. In the end I didn't really win. Pikachu's thundershock turned on the sprinkler system and Onix was hurt. I couldn't have Pikachu attack because it wasn't right. Brock ended up giving me the badge anyway and became my travelling companion after that."

"Wait you were making those childish mistakes back then, and still are now?" asked Iris.

"I used to get that lecture from Misty all the time."

"Who is Misty?"

"She is the Cerulean city gym leader now. Back then she followed me around because Pikachu turned her bike to a crisp, she said I owed her a new one. A couple regions later and we had become best friends, all three of us were. After Johto she had to take the gym over from her sisters though."

"Wow, just how many regions have you been to? I know you come from Kanto, but you never said you travelled anywhere else," asked Iris.

"I started in Kanto, then to the Orange Islands, Johto, Hoenn, Kanto battle frontier, and Sinnoh before this."

"This would explain your many tastes, you have had many different experiences," said Dent.

"Yeah I guess I have. I haven't really stopped to think about it. After each region I just move on. Now that I think about it I've caught many different Pokémon and met many people."

"Yes it would seem you have. Well we have to have an early start in the morning, we should probably head to bed," stated Dent.

"Good idea," said Iris.

"I'm going to stay up a little bit longer, I'll meet you in the room later."

"Okay Ash, don't stay up too late."

"Don't worry, I won't."

ooOOoo

I told Iris to go to the room that I had to do something before I came. I went back out to the lobby to see Ash staring blankly out the window. He had seemed very happy earlier, now not so much. Since his conversation with us he grew very thoughtful and seemed depressed. He nodded to Pikachu and headed outside. I worried about his state of mind right now and followed him.

He made his way to the docks with me not far behind. He sat on the end of the dock for a long while before standing up and screaming. He nearly gave me and Pikachu a heart attack in the process. I listened carefully as he told his faithful companion just what was on his mind.

After he was done talking to Pikachu I had all the information I needed and headed back to the pokecenter. Once there I made a phone call before hurrying to bed before Ash got back.

ooOOoo

I stood up from my chair once they left and put my hat back on. Pikachu looked at me and I motioned for the door, he understood right away. All this talk of the past had me thinking, and a walk would help clear my thoughts.

I walked out of the doors and steered away from the busy city to the docks. The busyness of the city would do nothing for my jumbling thoughts. The walk there was fairly uneventful besides almost being run over by a jogger. Once to the dock I walked straight to the end and took a seat. I sat there for a few minutes just letting the calm of the sea take over me. For some reason Dent and Iris asking about my past has me confused. How was it that before today I had never thought twice about where I had come? With each new region came new people and Pokémon, all those from previous regions all put disappeared. By now the number of shelves I had occupied at Professor Oak's was sure to be getting larger. With each new Pokeball were different experiences, but none any more precious from the others. Yet here I am with a whole new team completely forgetting about the previous ones. The only time I ever call them back is for help in a league championship.

"Ahh!" I say while standing up.

"Pika?"

"I'm sorry Pikachu, for some reason after talking with the others it got me thinking just what a bad friend and trainer I am. Most of the friends Pokémon and human alike have been left in the dust as I've moved onto the next region and League."

"Pika!"

"No, it's the truth. When was the last time I called Misty or May? When was the last time that any of the Pokemon from Oak's was with us besides for a championship?"

"Pika…"

"Well that all stops today. Misty always said I was oblivious and slow; well I'm starting to believe her. Either way this is going to change. Tomorrow is going to be a new day for all of us."

"Pika!"

ooOOoo

Today Dent and I woke up to find Ash already dressed and out of the room. We were both confused as he went to bed after us the previous night. We gathered up our things and went to the lobby. Ash was finishing up a call and fastening a few pokeballs to his belt. Whatever seemed to be bothering him last night had disappeared, he looked as though he had accomplished something grand.

"Ash, are you okay?" I asked.

"Never been better! Let's get going!"

Dent and I just looked at each other and shrugged. We said goodbye to Nurse Joy and headed to the exit of the city. As luck would have it, as we were walking out of the doors Shooty walked in. He looked more than a little displeased to see us. Ash immediately asked for a battle, which now we were in the park so they could have it. Shooty as snotty as ever asked Ash why he even tried when he was bound to lose. Normally Ash would get all fired up, but this time he just smiled.

"I have heard that from many rivals before, and I will tell you what I told them. I never give up."

"Well apparently they didn't do a good enough job beating you, I will do so instead."

"Bring it on!"

And the battle commenced. Even with Ash's new calm behavior I was nervous for him. For some reason he seemed to have a hard time with Shooty. Shooty chose Tranquil first and Ash went with Pikachu. Finally he went with a type advantage. That type advantage gave him the ability to knock out Shooty's first choice quite quickly. Dent and I both cheered, it looked like he was really on his game today. Next came Frillish. This proved to be a hard battle for Ash, and Pikachu gave it's all but it wasn't quite enough. Ash picked up the fallen mouse and handed him over to Dent. I got a good look at his eyes as he made his way back to the makeshift field, and it was one I had never seen before. Usually when his faithful partner was knocked out he would be uneasy, today though he seemed more confident. Dent and I looked at each other in confusion once more.

Ash took his position once more and Shooty made another snotty remark.

"Your Pikachu is down; we both know he is your strongest. You got lucky against Tranquil, you will not survive against my last two. My advice to you is to quit and walk away. Try saving yourself the shame."

"Pikachu is my partner, but he is not my only powerful Pokémon. You will see that today!"

"Dent, I am worried about him. He never battles like this."

"I know Iris; I don't know what has gotten into him."

"I hope he doesn't do something childish and gets hurt!" I said.

"For him not to do something childish would be a miracle, but then again it is what makes him Ash," came a new voice from behind us.

Dent and I turned around to see a girl with orange red hair watching the battle intently.

"Who are you?" I asked.

"You came so quickly," stated Dent.

"I hopped on the first boat here after I got off the phone with you last night."

"I'm confused," I said.

"After we talked last night I realized how conflicted Ash looked and decided to give one of his old friends a call. I remembered him saying that his friend Misty was the Cerulean gym leader, so I called the gym."

"When I heard that Ash wasn't doing too good I hopped on the first boat from Kanto to here."

"Wow…"

"Let's worry about that later, it looks like Ash is sending out his next Pokémon," she said.

Sure enough Ash had a poke ball in his hand and was smiling at it.

"Believe what you wish, but it is I who will be the victor of this battle. Frillish win this!" called Shooti.

"You're going to regret those words when this is over. I may have lost to you the last times we battled, but today will be different. Those times we were battling as equals, both with Pokémon that were new to us. The thing is that I have been a trainer for many years, and it is about time to start acting like it. I'm not some newbie anymore, so I will show you my true power today. Your Servine is quite powerful, but I will show you a true powerful grass type. Sceptile, I choose you!"

Dent and I both gasped as we saw an upright grass type that obviously didn't come from Unova. I turned to look at Misty and she had a smirk on her face.

"This little boy won't know up from down once Ash is done with him. It would seem that Ash is finally taking training more serious. I'm not sure what brought on this change, but it is a good one. That look on his face is one I have only seen during exceptionally hard battles and championship battles," she said.

"Just what Pokémon is that?" I asked.

"That is Sceptile, the final evolution of Treeko. Treeko is the grass starter for the Hoenn region," Dent replied.

No more words were exchanged between the three of us as the battle got under way. Right off the bat we could tell there was something different with Ash. He always enjoyed his battles, but now there seemed to be a rightness about the way he was battling. All the childish mistakes he normally made were gone. The way that he and Sceptile battled was so in synch. Unlike with his Unova Pokemon, the number of commands he had to give was much fewer. It was easy to tell that Sceptile already knew what Ash was thinking, and just did it.

Frillish was overwhelmed right off the bat as he was hit with multiple seeds. Shooti tried to keep up with the onslaught of attacks coming from Sceptile, but he could not. Sceptile and Ash were battle worn and had obviously battle much better people than Shooti. Frillish was finished with a combination of leaf blade and solar beam. As Shooti recalled his downed Pokémon he could do nothing but stare at Ash in disbelief. Ash himself recalled his beloved grass type and pulled out another pokeball.

"Servine you're on!"

"Infernape, I choose you!"

Once again the Pokémon that came out of Ash's pokeball wasn't an Unova native. It was a flaming monkey, and reminded me vaguely of Pansear. I didn't get to ask Dent what it was, because they had already started battling. It didn't take a genius to know who the victor was going to be. Even if Servine did manage to beat the fire type, Ash still had his Sceptile that had taken little to no damage.

Shooti tried to finish things quickly with leaf storm, but Infernape just blew through them with flame wheel hitting Servine in the process. That Servine sure had a strong will, because it managed to get up after being hit head on with flame wheel. Before Shooti could even hope to call an attack Ash had Infernape finish it with flamethrower. Shooti returned his starter and headed in the direction of the pokecenter. Ash tried to talk to him, but the kid would hear nothing of it. So instead Ash knelt down to praise his fire monkey.

"Wow Ash, that was some battle!" I say to him.

He turns around to thank me and freezes in place. I follow his line of sight to the red head. They stare at eachother for quite some time before either say anything.

ooOOoo

As Shooti walked away I knelt down to congratulate Infernape. While I loved my new Pokémon, I realized how much I missed battling with my others as well. Iris came running up to me and as I turned to thank her I caught sight of a girl with short red hair and an Azurill in her arms. All I could do was stare dumbly. I was too scared to blink because I was scared to see whether this was reality or a dream.

"Well Mr. Pokemon master wannabe are you just going to stare all day?" was her sarcastic reply that broke there revere I was in. I ran up to her and twirled her around all while hugging her as close as possible.

"Whoa Ash, be careful!"

"Sorry Mist, it is just so good to see you again!" I say while putting her down. I take the time to stare at her and realize I'm finally taller than her. She looks good, and I am yet again reminded how long it has been since I last seen her. Had it really been since I started the battle frontier?

"I know Ash; it is good to see you too. I'm happy to see that you are doing okay."

"Why would you think otherwise?" I ask.

"Because I got a call a little after dinner last night from your friend Dent here saying that you weren't doing too well."

"I'm sorry Ash; I followed you to the docks last night. You were so quiet after dinner and I was going to try and see if I could help in any way. When I heard you talking to Pikachu last night I just knew I had to do something. Then I remembered that you said your best friend was the Ceurlean gym leader I decided to give her a call. Once she heard she said she would come and visit you. I really didn't think she would be here so quickly though," explained Dent.

"Don't apologize for anything Dent, you were just being a good friend. Though I'm sorry I worried you, I must say it is really good to see Misty again," I say.

"What am I chopped liver?" came a new voice.

"Brock!" I cry in disbelief as I go to hug my brother figure.

ooOOoo

Dent and I watch from the side as the trio of friends is reunited for the first time in years. Misty is explaining that she called Brock before she left and that he too wished to come. Seconds later and Ash looked like a piece of over cooked bacon. We are introduced to yet another of Ash's Pokémon. Apparently his Charizard trains somewhere in Johto and Brock brought him here to say hi.

At that point Dent and I try to give the friends some privacy, but they soon beckon us back to the pokecenter. For the rest of the day and well into the night the five of us talked. They told us of their journeys and we of ours. It was a fun night with friends, and I was happy to see Ash normal again. He looked happier than he had the entire time with us. He also told us that he was going to start keeping three Unova Pokémon on him and two of his other ones at all times. He wanted to switch them out so they all get a chance to train and battle.

All of us were sadden to find out that the Kanto natives would be returning home in the morning, but they each had their own things to get back to.

We said our goodbyes in the lobby and Ash walked his two old friends to the docks.

ooOOoo

The trio of old friends walked to the docks in silence.

"This feels too familiar," says Ash.

"I know what you mean," states Misty.

"This is as far as I go guys, I have to take Charizard back to Liza," says Brock.

"Take care buddy, I'll call you back to battle soon I promise," Ash says to Charizard.

Ash and Misty say their goodbyes to Brock and watch until he is but a spec on the horizon. After they walk to the end of the dock to wait for Misty's boat back to Kanto.

"Thank you for coming Mist, you have no idea how much it meant to me."

"When I heard my best friend wasn't doing well, of course I came Ash. I'm glad I did too, because I got to see an awesome battle. Keep that up and you are sure to win the championship. Look there comes my boat, now I don't want to have to be coming back Ash. Keep up what you're doing and give me a call every once in a while."

"I will, and thank you again! Keep training and become the best water Pokémon trainer ever!"

"You betcha master wannabe! There is my boat, I will talk to you soon!"

ooOOoo

I smiled and waved furiously as I ran to the boat that had just finished docking. I probably would have had more time with him, but I also knew if I didn't run now I would never leave. I had come because he needed his friends, but it was also somewhat selfish. I hadn't seen him since the battle frontier and damn it I missed him! I felt the familiar clench of my heart that happened anytime I had to leave him. The first had been after Johto, and it had only gotten worse with time.

ooOOoo

I didn't even get to give a proper goodbye as she went bolting up the freshly laid out plank. It almost seemed as though she couldn't wait to leave. I was somewhat stunned by that thought, then I remembered that if she didn't want to see me she wouldn't have come all this way. I looked down at Pikachu and he yelled at me and pointed to the still boarding boat. Making the most rash decision I had my entire life, and that was something coming from me, I ran up the plank looking for Misty. I found her leaning on the rail looking out at the sea.

"Misty!"

"What, Ash?"

"I just wanted to say…wanted to say that I was sorry for not keeping in touch. You came running when I needed you and yet I've barely written you letters in the last few years."

"Ash you don't…"

"I'm not done yet Mist, and yes I do. I haven't been there like I should have been. I've been every bit dense as you always said I was. For some reason this all came clear to me recently and you have to know. When you first left after Johto I didn't know what to think. I thought that running the gym was something you wanted to do and totally neglected how you really felt. I was so blind to the tears that fell down your face that day. I should have known better than to think you would want to do that, especially for your sisters. Allow me to say what I couldn't all those years ago…" I say while leaning in and capturing her lips with my own, "you started out as a thorn in my side, but became my best friend along the way. The day that you had to leave made me realize that I liked you far more than someone should like their best friend. Instead of trying to figure it out I buried it and dove into training like I always did. Now many years later I stand before you saying that I am sorry, and that I have fallen in love with you Misty. Can you please forgive me for being so dense?"

ooOOoo

I had been shocked when he first appeared on the boat, but those last few sentences through me for a loop. I felt like pinching myself to make sure this wasn't a dream. I knew my lips wouldn't work properly at the moment so I launched myself at him and kissed him again.

"Oh Ash, I never thought I would ever hear those words from you. And yet my heart still ached for it. I love you too Ash!"

At that point we kissed again and the boat gave the final boarding call. All we could do was look at each other and get ready to try and say goodbye again.

ooOOoo

"Okay goodbye! I will call you as soon as I can!" the red head said while hanging up the video phone. Soon she gathered her things and headed for the outside.

"Took you long enough!"

"Some of us actually know how to use a phone thank you very much!"

"How did it go over?"

"Better than I thought it would. I have been training them so it should be okay."

"Are you two ready to go?" asked Dent.

"Of course we are," said Misty.

"It is going to be cool to travel with a gym leader!" said Iris.

"Just wait and see how cool it is…"

"I heard that Ash!"

"You were meant to Misty. My head still hurts from that damn mallet of yours!"

"Maybe if we hadn't fallen off the boat I wouldn't have hurt you."

"You were the one that couldn't make up your mind whether you wanted to go or come!"

"Umm guys? I thought they were friends?" asked Iris.

"They sure seem to have a hot friendship," was all Dent said and started heading to the next city with Iris not far behind. The bickering duo managed to follow even in the middle of their argument. Pikachu being the ever helpful Pokémon put an end to the argument the only way that ever seemed to work.

"He's gotten a lot stronger since he fried my bike."

"He's had a few other bikes to practice on…thanks pal…"

"Pika!"

ooOOoo

A/N: Well there be the end of that oneshot. Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoyed it! Please drop a review and tell me how I did/what you thought. It would be much appreciated!


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